Brakpan SAPS hosted the first stakeholders meeting in recent months to address crime trends in town and community and private sector complaints on March 18.

The meeting was brief, with low attendance, but the hope is to increase attendance as the monthly meetings progress.

Captain Pieter Booysen from the Brakpan crime intelligence office delivered the address, jumping straight into crime trends over the last three months in Brakpan.

“I brought up the crime trends from the first of this year to March 15, and I’m comparing them to last year.

“As you can see, we’re mostly in the green, except that attempted rapes and robbery with a firearm have greatly increased, with 31.5% actually,” Booysen said.

In crimes depending on police action, drug possession is up, drunk driving is up, but gambling is down because the SAPS no longer make arrests for this, as the laws have changed.

Residential burglaries are currently a problem in the Anzac area. The Brakpan CBD recorded eight residential burglaries this year, up from last year’s four. The most popular time for these is between noon and 18:00.

Business burglaries mostly occur in Brakpan CBD, but there have been four cases in Leachville and two in Sherwood Gardens so far this year.

The day of the week these burglaries occur most often is Tuesday. The most popular time for this crime is between 18:00 and 06:00, throughout the night.

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Business robberies are problematic in Maryvlei, mostly on Mondays, and between noon and 18:00.
House robberies are scattered all over town, with only one case per area reported, four cases total.

Mondays to Wednesdays seem to be the popular time to commit this crime, usually between 18:00 and 06:00.

Hijackings are still a problem, especially along the R23 and N17. There were four cases in CBD, two in Brenthurst and two in Dalpark. The most problematic time slot is between 12:00 and midnight.

Popular vehicles are Big Boy motorcycles, Ford Rangers, Hyundai H100s, Kias, Renaults, and Volkswagens.
Statistics for truck hijackings are looking good, with most cases along the R23 or N17, and some in Dalkpark and Withok.

Withok is improving compared to last year. They mostly happen between 06:00 and 12:00. Theft from motor vehicles mostly occurs in Dalpark and the CBD, with a notable number of incidents in the Mall@Carnival parking lot.

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Rand Collieries, Withok and Sherwood Gardens also had cases. Problematic times for this crime are Sundays and Fridays, from 06:00 to 18:00.

Theft of motor vehicles is scattered across town, with 12 cases in the CBD, six in Dalpark and four in Leachville. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays are the days most affected, with three cases reported at schools during school events.

The time frames were between 12:00 and 16:00. Popular targets are Toyotas, especially older Toyota Yaris vehicles, Hyundai H100s, Fords, especially Rangers, Volkswagen Polos, and Nissans.

Charl Bronkhorst, representing the private security industry, noted an increase in cases in complexes and estates.

Drummond Doig, vice-chairperson of AfriForum Brakpan, noted a rise in cases of wheels being stolen from trailers, with many of these wheels appearing on Facebook Marketplace.

Chris Hattingh, also from AfriForum, claimed that a teen boy breaking into houses in Minnebron to steal items has become a major problem.

The same boy was also allegedly spotted vandalising light boxes in Minnebron.

Bronkhorst suggested that security companies, the CPF and other forums should report crime informally to Booysen directly, to account for the discrepancy between their experiences with crime and the statistics derived from formal cases opened.

“Sometimes, as I said, the problem is often much bigger than the statistics you guys have, but people aren’t reporting most crimes to the police, so it goes ignored,” he said.

“I can’t do anything if they don’t report the cases. Please tell people to open cases, even for small issues, because it shows a pattern. If I don’t have all the information, the pattern I develop is never going to work,” Booysen said.